Job and Ham

[AR15]

I just watched The Dust Bowl Cousins last night and I have to say that I think Job is just about the most unlikeable person to ever visit Walton's Mountain - certainly the most unlikeable member of the expanded Walton family. It's that mixture of arrogance, violence and his creepy behaviour around Mary Ellen. He's such an unpleasant and menacing boy. I didn't feel that there was a sympathetic bone in his body.

Contrast that against his father, Ham. He wasn't exactly a good person either - but while he was also very flawed, it was done in a much different way. Despite his flaws, I find myself being very fond of Ham. I feel like, at his heart, he wants whats best for his family and I really would like to see him succeed. It's a shame that he (and Cora and Job) never came back in later episodes. I'd have been keen to see things get better for them! Though The Narrator does say that they were okay in New York afterwards. I wonder if John-Boy ever visited?

[patriciaanne]

Jun 28, 2019 16:13:23 GMT -5 AR15 said:

I just watched The Dust Bowl Cousins last night and I have to say that I think Job is just about the most unlikeable person to ever visit Walton's Mountain - certainly the most unlikeable member of the expanded Walton family. It's that mixture of arrogance, violence and his creepy behaviour around Mary Ellen. He's such an unpleasant and menacing boy. I didn't feel that there was a sympathetic bone in his body.

Contrast that against his father, Ham. He wasn't exactly a good person either - but while he was also very flawed, it was done in a much different way. Despite his flaws, I find myself being very fond of Ham. I feel like, at his heart, he wants whats best for his family and I really would like to see him succeed. It's a shame that he (and Cora and Job) never came back in later episodes. I'd have been keen to see things get better for them! Though The Narrator does say that they were okay in New York afterwards. I wonder if John-Boy ever visited?

I too am troubled by the Job character. I did not like the scene with Mary Ellen when she's fishing one little bit. He's a very dark character.

[goldfinch1]

That makes three of us then , No I definitely did not like that Job at all! I find that episode an uncomfortable watch. My sympathies are with poor dear Cora........ Still she makes good in the end though as goes on to marry Matt Sarver lol😉🌸

---

[Robin]

I agree. Just saw it yesterday, and it reminded me of the fact that this was not a good episode. That Job was hard hearted, and mean. He probably would have killed John Boy had Grandpa not stopped the fight. It just made me feel like they brought evil into a sweet home.

[Deleted]

Jun 28, 2019 20:15:33 GMT -5 goldfinch1 said:

That makes three of us then , No I definitely did not like that Job at all! I find that episode an uncomfortable watch. My sympathies are with poor dear Cora........ Still she makes good in the end though as goes on to marry Matt Sarver lol😉🌸

---

I'm confused, I thought Matt Sarver was already married The Empty Nest.

[Brenda]

Jun 29, 2019 7:04:29 GMT -5 @josephzebulon said:

Jun 28, 2019 20:15:33 GMT -5 goldfinch1 said:

That makes three of us then , No I definitely did not like that Job at all! I find that episode an uncomfortable watch. My sympathies are with poor dear Cora........ Still she makes good in the end though as goes on to marry Matt Sarver lol😉🌸

---

I'm confused, I thought Matt Sarver was already married The Empty Nest.

Matt Sarver’s wife, Betty Sarver, was played by the actress Jay W. MacIntosh, who also played the role of Cora Denby in The Dust Bowl Cousins. I don’t think goldfinch1 meant that he got married on an episode of The Waltons; just that they recycled an actress to play a different role.  

[Deleted]

Thanks Brenda for the clarification. 

[Kyle]

I never realized it was the same actress playing Cora and Matt Sarver’s wife. I haven’t seen the later episodes nearly as much as the earlier ones, so that’s probably why. I liked that actress.

I really like the Dust Bowl Cousins episode, because it does show how easily a bad apple can spoil the barrel. Livvie notices that the house’s atmosphere has changed just a short time after the cousins’ arrival. I liked Cora, but Ham was a dishonest bum, and Job seemed downright amoral. Grandma was 100% right in this one. I would have thrown those people out so fast their heads would have spun, as soon as I found out about the stolen bacon and Job’s fights with Johnboy. I would not want my children exposed to Ham and Job.

I thought the ending narration was a little too pat - how Ham did make things work in their new home. He probably stole his neighbors blind.

[Brenda]

Jun 29, 2019 7:37:09 GMT -5 Kyle said:

I never realized it was the same actress playing Cora Walton Denny and Matt Sarver’s wife. I haven’t seen the later episodes nearly as much as the earlier ones, so that’s probably why. I liked that actress.

I really like the Dust Bowl Cousins episode, because it does show how easily a bad apple can spoil the barrel. Livvie notices that the house’s atmosphere has changed just a short time after the cousins’ arrival. I liked Cora, but Ham was a dishonest bum, and Job seemed downright amoral. Grandma was 100% right in this one. I would have thrown those people out so fast their heads would have spun, as soon as I found out about the stolen bacon and Job’s fights with Johnboy. I thought the ending narration was a little too pat - how Ham did make things work in their new home. He probably stole his neighbors blind.

I like this episode too because it shows the contrast between  John and Olivia and the way they were raising their children to be honest and hard-working as opposed to Ham and Cora, who were raising their son to be a lazy thief who thought only of himself and took advantage of others. I agree with you about the ending. People don’t change that easily. Maybe a better ending would have been, “Ham and Job never amounted to anything. Cora finally gave up on both of them and divorced Ham. She eventually remarried. Her second husband was very successful in the lumber business.”

[Kyle]

Ha nice - I like your ending.

I just realized that in this episode, Ham steals bacon. Hahaha.

[goldfinch1]

Jun 29, 2019 7:25:11 GMT -5 Brenda said:

Jun 29, 2019 7:04:29 GMT -5 @josephzebulon said:

I'm confused, I thought Matt Sarver was already married The Empty Nest.

Matt Sarver’s wife, Betty Sarver, was played by the actress Jay W. MacIntosh, who also played the role of Cora Denby in The Dust Bowl Cousins. I don’t think goldfinch1 meant that he got married on an episode of The Waltons; just that they recycled an actress to play a different role.  

Thanks Brenda, yes that is what I meant, perhaps I should have clarified. Sorry for any confusion there😕 🌸

[goldfinch1]

Jun 29, 2019 7:50:48 GMT -5 Brenda said:

Jun 29, 2019 7:37:09 GMT -5 Kyle said:

I never realized it was the same actress playing Cora Walton Denny and Matt Sarver’s wife. I haven’t seen the later episodes nearly as much as the earlier ones, so that’s probably why. I liked that actress.

I really like the Dust Bowl Cousins episode, because it does show how easily a bad apple can spoil the barrel. Livvie notices that the house’s atmosphere has changed just a short time after the cousins’ arrival. I liked Cora, but Ham was a dishonest bum, and Job seemed downright amoral. Grandma was 100% right in this one. I would have thrown those people out so fast their heads would have spun, as soon as I found out about the stolen bacon and Job’s fights with Johnboy. I thought the ending narration was a little too pat - how Ham did make things work in their new home. He probably stole his neighbors blind.

I like this episode too because it shows the contrast between  John and Olivia and the way they were raising their children to be honest and hard-working as opposed to Ham and Cora, who were raising their son to be a lazy thief who thought only of himself and took advantage of others. I agree with you about the ending. People don’t change that easily. Maybe a better ending would have been, “Ham and Job never amounted to anything. Cora finally gave up on both of them and divorced Ham. She eventually remarried. Her second husband was very successful in the lumber business.”

Very good Brenda! 😆😆😆🌸

[sammy]

"He probably would have killed John-Boy." Yes, I believe so. Especially after he grabbed that pitchfork! And here, John-Boy told Grandpa "What's the worst that could happen? I'll get a broken nose?"

BUT, then they all live happily ever after... 😊
the end.

[nedandres]

I like this episode because the Dust Bowl was not pretty, but it was real. "The Waltons" did not paint life in the 1930s a rose color. It showed it for was it was. That's why we can gain life lessons from it and pass those lessons on to future generations.

[goldfinch1]

Jun 30, 2019 17:09:18 GMT -5 nedandres said:

I like this episode because the Dust Bowl was not pretty, but it was real. "The Waltons" did not paint life in the 1930s a rose color. It showed it for was it was. That's why we can gain life lessons from it and pass those lessons on to future generations.

Yes indeed,  you are right there!🌸